Harry Potter and the Secret of Gryffindor
by UMSLtifosi
Summary: This is an Alternate Reality HP fic based during Harry's first year. Rated PG because I can't write a G story, just wouldn't be right. I'll update when I get the chance.
1. Prologue

Prologue

'I don't think we should be doing this Padfoot'

'When did you become the voice of reason Prongs?'

'When you started trying to figure out how to benefit from knowing the future.'

'You know that if you had thought of this, you'd be willing to go for it. And don't admit that you wouldn't. I know you too well.'

'You may be right, but it's also likely that I wouldn't ever think to mess with the future because I'm too smart for that.'

'So now you're saying I'm not smart? I seem to recall that without me, you wouldn't have figured out the animagus transformation.'

'You know I didn't mean that you're not smart. You're at the top of the class with me and Lily, but I don't think this is something we should be doing.'

'Fine, you can stay here, but I'm going with or without you. Nothing you can say or do will stop me from going. I want to know how the future is going to work out for us. I hate not knowing. It's like I feel that something is gonna go wrong, but I can't place it. I just have to know.'

'You've been going on about this feeling since our 2nd year. Would you please drop it? Messing with time is not something to be taken lightly, and I don't think you've thought about this enough.'

'I've been thinking about this for five years now. We're graduating Hogwarts in three months, and I'd like to know what I'm going to be doing in 15 years, so that I can plan adequately now. You've got it all figured out. I don't know what to do. You've got your future set for you, I don't.'

'You can do whatever you want. So long as you apply yourself, you'll do well. And besides, we could always just stay bums living on my money for a few months, travel and have some fun. We can think about the future at another time.'

'No. I'm going. Are you coming?'

'I can't Padfoot. I know I can't stop you, but will you at least let me give you a piece of advice? Please don't mess with the future. Take my invisibility cloak and don't interact with anyone. Just observe. And whatever you do, don't tell anyone about you. Even me. I don't want you to contact me, it'll just be too weird. And when you come back, you can't tell me anything, agreed?'

'Fine. You're being way too paranoid and protective. But that's why I love you so much. You are my brother, along with Moony and Wormtail. Speaking of them, should we tell them?'

'No, Moony would object even more than I am, and Wormtail wouldn't know what to think.'

'Wish me luck.'

'Good luck Padfoot. Be careful. See you in a few seconds or so.' 

'See you soon.'


	2. Padfoot's Confrontation

Chapter 1 - Padfoot's Confrontation

Sirius landed back in their secret room at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He wasn't sure if he had succeeded, but assumed so since James wasn't there. He slowly got up and rubbed his head. Nobody told him that time travel can give one nasty headache. He checked to make sure that all of his limbs were in their correct spots, and that he could move around without problems. After finding himself in fine health, he slipped on the invisibility cloak, and moved to the door. 

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Stepping into the corridor, he narrowly avoided a group of students moving quickly towards class. Because they were happily engaged talking about Gryffindors' domination over Slytherin in the Quidditch match the past weekend, they didn't even notice the open door as Sirius quickly shut it. 

He overheard some of the conversation. 

'I can't believe Malfoy almost got the snitch!'

'Yeah, and then Harry just knocked him out of the way and grabbed it.'

'Just in time too!'

'Another second and we might've lost!'

'But we won! And by 270 points! We're in the lead for the Quidditch Cup now!'

'Was there ever any doubt?'

The group was now far enough away that Sirius couldn't hear anymore. He was happy to hear that Gryffindor was still winning in quidditch. He moved off in the opposite direction and soon ran into another group of students. These students were also discussing the match, but were apparently the players. 

There were three red heads that were having a great time razzing another kid. This one looked strangely familiar to Sirius. He could have sworn that he'd seen that hair before. . .and then it hit him. 'It's James!' he said to himself. What was James doing here? He had gone forward, hadn't he? He didn't recognise any of the other students, so he decided to follow them for a while and try to figure things out.

He crept closer, but had to scurry to keep up with them as they suddenly moved off. He realised that they were heading for the Great Hall. He kept up with them and soon found himself in the Great Hall for, he assumed, lunch. At the head table, Professor Dumbledore was sitting in the middle, with Professor McGonagall to his right. Next to her was Moony! Why was Moony here? Was he a teacher? And if so, what did he teach? 

Further down the table, there was a man with slimy hair that looked just like Severus Snape. Sirius knew he was losing it. No way would Snape ever become a teacher! He really had a lot of work to do if he was going to figure this out. 

He moved to right behind the boy he thought was James, and listened into the conversation he was having with one of the red-haired boys and a young lady with bushy brown hair.

'That was amazing Harry!' the girl said.

'Yeah! I thought you were doing the Wronski Feint again. How do you ever see the snitch?'

'It just comes easily to me. I've heard that my dad was a pretty good player himself. I guess I got some of it from him' Harry explained.

'But there's no way we could do that, right Ron?' the girl spoke up again.

'Not in a million years. I'm just lucky that I have enough talent to play keeper. For a while, I thought that Charlie and the twins got all the quidditch talent in the family.' 

'You know that you're a great player Ron. Don't try to play it off. Without you, we wouldn't have done as well on Saturday. And Hermione, you just keep coming up with some clever ways of supporting us.' Harry told his friends.

Sirius was starting to figure things out, but was still somewhat confused. If this boy was named Harry, he couldn't be James. And while that comforted him to an extent, he was intensely curious as to how this boy looked just like James. 

As he came back to reality, he noticed that Hermione was leaning over to speak to Harry so that no one else could hear. He leaned in as well and heard her ask something about his godfather.

'You should write him. Don't you think he'd want to hear about this? He is your godfather after all.'

'I will write to him. I just don't want him to get caught. I worry about him every day. What would I do if Padfoot got caught?'

Padfoot? How did Harry know about Padfoot? And what did he have to do with this boy? He was even more confused than ever. 

'You say that every time we tell you to write him. You know he loves you like a son and wants to be there for you. He still blames himself for your dad's death. Let him know that you want him around.' Ron told him.

'All right. I'll write to him. Maybe he can come and visit me soon.'

Sirius was deep in thought and barely caught himself before he fell over and hit the table. He backed away and tried to figure out what was going on. He decided to talk Harry that night. He'd have to sneak into Gryffindor Tower, but that would be easy enough with his cloak.

Later that night, after nicking some food from the kitchens and a paper. He sat in a corner of an empty classroom and had his dinner while reading _The Daily Prophet_. The first good sign was the date: 18 April 1999. After he scanned the headlines, his eyes were drawn to the bottom half. The headline read He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Rumoured Return. 

Sirius was even more confused. Even back in his own time, Lord Voldemort had been called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but if he had returned, he would have had to have been defeated. How could that have happened? He was incredibly strong, and only Professor Dumbledore could have possibly beaten him, but he was still at Hogwarts. He was thinking of more questions than answers. So he decided to read the article. 

__

After this past summer's Tri-Wizard Tournament, rumours have been circulating that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. After his downfall 14 years ago at the hands of young Harry Potter, we have been blessed with happiness, but these rumours are destroying that. 

Supporting these rumours is the news of renewed muggle killings and tortures as well as a sharp rise in wizard murders. There have also been reports that the Dark Mark has been seen over several of the murders. But these reports have not been confirmed by the Ministry. Minister Fudge says '[t]here is no truth to any of these rumours. You-Know-Who has not, and cannot return. Let us please move on and enjoy our peace.'

The Daily Prophet is calling upon anyone with any evidence either way to please step forward and put this matter to rest. If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has truly returned, we need to prepare. If not, we must know for sure. 

We do not want to be caught unawares again and be susceptible to His wrath. We would not be wise to put our faith in The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, again. It has been reported that he is suffering from mental illnesses and is possibly not stable. He has been rumoured to believe that Sirius Black is innocent, and is his godfather. This is considered to be proof that he is ill and should be taken to St. Mungo's, but that step has yet to be taken. 

Until we know for sure, we should go on living as we have these past 14 years. If He has returned, we will know soon enough. 

- Rita Skeeter

He was Harry's godfather? And what was he presumed guilty of? More questions were running through his head now, and he was more resoled than ever to talk to Harry and find out what has been happening.

That night, he followed some students into the common room and found Harry sitting next to the fire on a couch with Ron and Hermione. He moved closer as he eyed the rest of the room to see if anyone was close enough to notice anything. He took out a piece of parchment that he had written earlier. He moved over Harry and dropped it on his lap. 

Harry jumped up and looked around for whoever had dropped the parchment. He couldn't see anyone, but knew they had to be close. He looked at the parchment. It read:

__

Harry – 

Meet me in the Common Room after everyone has gone to bed. 

Padfoot

Harry was surprised, but was very happy. He showed the note to Ron and Hermione, who looked equally happy.

'Maybe he heard about the win and came back to celebrate with you!' Ron told him.

'Or maybe he's come back to help you prepare for your O.W.L.s.' Hermione added.

'I doubt he's worried about my O.W.L.s enough to come back here. Besides, whatever the reason, I'm just glad he's here. I really want to see him.'

After the last person had gone to bed, Harry stayed around on the couch. He was sleepy, but the excitement about seeing Sirius was enough to keep him awake. He heard someone on the other side of the room move, and turned to look, but didn't see anyone. He just figured he'd imagined it. 

As Sirius moved closer, he became more and more nervous. He'd promised Prongs not to talk to anyone, but he had to break that promise. He had to know what was going on. This was especially true if Harry were Prongs' son and he was his godfather. When he was standing behind the couch, he spoke. 'Harry. Don't be alarmed, it's only me.'

Harry jumped and turned around, expecting to see his godfather, but instead, standing there was a teenager, not much older than he was. 

'Who are you?' he asked.

'I'm Sirius Black. I've got a lot of explaining to do here, and you will too.'

'You're not Sirius, you're too young. Sirius is much older and he's got more grey hair.'

'I've got grey hair? Oh no. I hate grey hair.' Sirius joked.

'You're not Sirius. Who are you?' Harry demanded.

'I am Sirius, but I'm from the past. I came forward in time to see how things turned out because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. So I came 20 years to the future to see what I was doing, so that I'd know what I should work for.'

'Time travel is impossible over a period of over 72 hours. And for that you need a Time Turner. You don't have one. So I know you're lying. You had better tell me the truth before I wake the others up or go to Dumbledore!'

'You have to believe me. I'm Sirius Black, or Padfoot. Your father is Prongs. I'm guessing that you know about Professor Lupin being Moony. And that charming little chap Peter Pettigrew is Wormtail. If you're James' son, you know about them. And, unless I'm mistaken, your mother is Lily Evans.'

Harry wanted to faint, but didn't. This wasn't possible he thought to himself. Time travel is impossible. But what if it is true? What should he do? He wanted to believe, but couldn't bring himself to, yet.

'If you're really Sirius, you'll know how to activate the map.' Harry challenged.

'I'll assume you're talking about the Marauders' Map. You tap it and say "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" and it reveals the school and everyone in it.'

'Oh my God, you are Sirius.' 

'I told you. Now, could you answer some questions for me? I've been confused since I got here.'

'Sure, I'll help you. What do you want to know?'

After an entire night of questions and answers, Sirius was looking worse for the wear, and Harry wasn't doing much better either. He had to tell Sirius about his years in Azkaban, Wormtail's betrayal, his parents' death, and of Voldemort's fall and rise. 

Sirius was quiet for a full minute before asking 'How?'

'What do you mean "how"?'

'How was I framed for their deaths. I would have rather died than betray James and Lily. Everyone knows that.'

'Well, after Wormtail betrayed them, he fled. After you caught up with him, you cornered him and he yelled out that you had done it and caused their deaths. He then cursed the street and killed a dozen muggles, cut his finger, and transformed so that he could flea down the sewer. The Ministry arrived and found you there, and arrested you. They sent you to Azkaban without trial. You were there for twelve years before escaping during my third year.'

'I've got to do something to change this. I cannot allow James and Lily to die. I owe it to them and to you. I guess I'm you're godfather. So it's my duty to help you have a real family. I guess I have to influence things so that Voldemort doesn't get them.'

'Are you sure that's a good idea?'

'What do you mean? Of course it's a good idea. Don't tell me you want to live without your parents?'

'I just mean that things happen for a reason. If you change the past, something else might happen that is even worse than this is. You never know.'

'You could be right. Prongs was worried about this too. He made me promise not to interfere and not to change anything. Of course I broke that promise, simply by speaking to you, but I had too. You understand, right?'

'I guess I do. I probably would have done the same thing.'

'Well, that settles it. I'm going to help undo what I did wrong. I guess it was my fault anyway for persuading Prongs to change to Wormtail anyway. 

'So how do you get back?'

'I just have to finish the charm that brought me here. It'll take me back to about 10 seconds after I left. Basically, I won't have been gone, but Prongs is waiting for me, so I should be off.'

'Good luck Sirius. If you succeed, I guess this won't be and I'll be able to thank you properly with my parents there too.'

'I'll see you kid. I hope this works.'

'Good bye Sirius.'

'Good bye Harry.'

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A/N: I don't have a beta reader, and don't know if I will. So if you notice any errors, just let me know either by e-mail or in the reviews. I'm just writing this for fun, but I'll do the best I can. Let me know what you think. If you're confused, I hope it will all become clear in later chapters.


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